The annual increasing number: 67

Another year, and another birthday for me. This one is another of the “non-significant” birthdays I mentioned last year, and that’s because “I tend to focus more on [birthdays] ending in zero or five”. I was thinking about my approaching birthday a couple days ago, and wrote a note to myself, probably for this post. I wrote: “Every year my birthday surprises me as if it’d never been on that day before.” I have absolutely no idea what I meant by that, so this year, at least, I surprised (confused?) myself, so that’s something new, I guess.

I’ve said many times that I think of my birthday as my own personal “new year”, and so, I’ve always looked at my birthday as an oppoprtunity for a reset. New beginnings, and even new ideas entirely. This year is just another example of that, though this year I my patio cover project was completed on my birthday, something that doesn’t happen every year. I’m glad that it was.

Birthday selfie under the roof.

These days, though, I’m less focused on projects, resets, or whatever, than I am on the fact of my ageing. I’ve taken steps to try and make that process better than, maybe, it might otherwise be, and I’ve talked about that, but what else is there?

I have projects galore for now and the near future, and I have some (mostly) vague plans for my (somewhat…) longer-term future, but about between the two? Let’s assume I have ten years before any physical decline begins (to be clear, it could be sooner or later). What am I going to do with my life for those ten (or more…) years? This is the one question I’ve been unable to answer ever since Nigel died, and that means that, as some may put it, I squandered the past six years. Maybe I did, but I don’t think so because I was in no position to do any differently when I hadn’t yet found my way through.

In any event, I intend for this year to be a pivot point. To be blunt, time is running out: Maybe I’ll get 20 years, more or less, before I my being stops, but I have no idea how many of those years will be what I consider to be valuable. That, I think—hope?—will be the story for this year and beyond. If so, it’ll be documented here.

This morning, just like last year, I made poached eggs on toast with sliced Edam cheese. In this case, I decided that yeatsreday afternoon, then in the evening I looked at least year’s post to prepare for this year’s and saw the connection. That’s actually why I added the cheese this year (the bread, and amount of cheese are less than last year, as it happens). Still, like last year, I used freshly ground salt & pepper and added some dried parsley—but not from my garden this year. Even so, it’s just as true as last year that I seldom make poached eggs on a weekday, and that made it a special.

I’ll be celebrating my birthday with family on the much more convenient Friday. I’m excited about Friday, as I always am when I get together with family—especially because this is a “non-significant” birthday, and so, today doesn’t matter. Well, apart from having my patio cover installed, of course.

It’ll be an early night for me tonight (I may have dozed off in my chair a couple times this evening…). By Friday I’ll be back to me again. After that? Let’s see what happens.

So, my birthday is usually a weird mashup of gratitude, thoughts about the future, missing Nigel more intensely than most days, and matter-of-fact realism about where I’m at and where I may be one day. And I’m okay with that.

The US Route 67 sign is a public domain graphic available from Wikipedia. US Route 67 runs between Presidio, Texas and Sabula, Iowa, running through the western part of Illinois from ­Missouri to Iowa. The route passes through Macomb, Illinois, which is the home of Western Illinois University. I know I visited a friend of mine when he was studying there, but I don’t remember how I got there (I must’ve either driven or used Amtrak, but I don’t remember which it was). One way or another, though, I was probably on Route 67 in Macomb at some point.

My Previous Birthday posts:

2025: The annual increasing number: 66
2024: The annual increasing number: 65
2023: The annual increasing number: 64
2022: The annual increasing number: 63
2021: The annual increasing number: 62
2020: The annual number increase happened
2019: Another 'Big Birthday'
2018: The annual increasing number: 59
2017: The annual increasing number: 58
2016: The annual increasing number: 57
2015: The annual increasing number: 56
2014: The annual increasing number: 55
2013: The annual increasing number: 54
2012: The annual increasing number
2011: The annual increasing number
2010: The annual increasing number
2009: Happy Birthday to Me…
2008: Another Birthday